Lt. John H. Games was in the cockpit of a B-26. The weather was sketchy. The clouds were thick. The mission required he fly at low altitude and parallel to the coast to ensure accuracy.

When he steered his bomber out of the clouds, what he saw was staggering. A sky covered with more than 11,000 warplanes, a channel full with more than 5,000 ships and landing craft, and thousands of troops storming the beaches.

Some memories of D-Day, widely regarded as the single most important event in World War II, are more vivid than others for the 96-year-old Salem resident.

Humble, like the rest of his generation, Games makes an exception to talk about what unfolded that day 74 years ago, because he wants us to remember. He penned an 806-word personal account in hopes that we never forget how D-Day changed the course of the war and the sacrifices that were made.

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Howard Games served in the Air Force Reserves until the 1980s. He retired as a lieutenant colonel.(Photo: CAPI LYNN / Statesman Journal)

“D-Day was the largest single military operation in history,” Games said. “I was part of it, but that isn’t the point. I don’t think anyone can realize the magnitude of that operation, with thousands of men in the water, and a lot of them didn’t get home.”

Games — Howard to family and friends — has been on a mission to keep the memory of D-Day alive ever since a fellow survivor told him about a conversation a few years back with a young man in France who had never heard of the Allied invasion of Normandy.

He did his part to educate young people closer to home by donating to Corban University a June 7, 1944 edition of “The Stars and Stripes,” which he picked up the day after the invasion for a penny at a U.S. Army Air Corps base in England.

The newspaper is kept on display at Corban Unversity in the campus library, framed in glass so both sides can be viewed. His daughter, Claudia Green, is a retired professor from Corban but still teaching as an adjunct with the School of Education.

The four-page newspaper had been folded and tucked away for years in a guest room dresser drawer of the Games household. Before that, his mother had kept it in a box for decades after he mailed it home to her during the war.

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Howard Games donated this framed copy of the June 7, 1944 edition of "The Star And Stripes," which he bought for a penny at his U.S. Army Air Corps base in England the day after D-Day, to Corban University.(Photo: CAPI LYNN / Statesman Journal)

Games grew up on a farm in rural Idaho. He attended a small high school with 68 students. He was one of 16 in the graduating class of 1939. He attended the College of Idaho for two years before sitting out a year to earn money for school.

Then Pearl Harbor was attacked. He tried to enlist immediately but failed a physical because he said his pulse was racing. He successfully enlisted the following spring.

Games already had a pilot’s license, and the B-17 Flying Fortress was his first choice of aircraft. He liked it because it was bigger, with four engines.

Instead, he was assigned to the B-26 Marauder, a twin-engine medium bomber that was challenging to fly and unpopular with some pilots. It had a reputation of being a “widowmaker” because of the early models’ high accident rate during takeoffs and landings.

The B-26 became safer once modifications were made to the aircraft, including an increase of wingspan, and crews were re-trained.

The role of B-26 bomb groups in the war is less-lauded than their B-17 counterparts, but they fared favorably because their planes carried the same bomb-load, flew faster, and were less of a target because of their size.

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Howard Games holds up his hand-painted flight jacket from World War II. Games served as a B-26 pilot and flew 62 missions, including D-Day on June 6, 1944.(Photo: CAPI LYNN / Statesman Journal)

Games arrived in the European theater as a 2nd lieutenant in late summer 1943. Most of his 62 combat missions, flown over France, Belgium and Holland, were routine. His crew would take off, assemble into a formation, fly over the English Channel, get shot at, drop bombs on targets such as railroads and bridges, and fly back to base mostly intact.

He’ll never forget returning from a June 5 mission. The base was a beehive of activity.

“We knew something exciting was happening,” he said. “They were painting black and white stripes around the fuselage and wings. No one was allowed off base. It was real tense.”

The stripes were added to aircraft for identification by friendly forces in preparation for Operation Overlord, the code name for the invasion of German-occupied Europe.

“There were going to be an awful lot of planes in the air, and they wanted to be sure we knew what we were shooting at,” Games said.

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A photo of 1st Lt. Howard Games is surrounded by medals earned during World War II.(Photo: CAPI LYNN / Statesman Journal)

He and his fellow airmen in the 387th Bomb Group, 558th Bomb Squadron were rousted out of bed at 3:30 a.m., served a quick breakfast and assembled in the briefing room.

The target for his group of 36 aircraft was Utah Beach, the code name of one of five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of Normandy coastline. The others were Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.

The timing was critical for the mission, to help clear the way for ground troops by bombing mines on the beaches and creating craters for cover. The first landing craft were scheduled to land just minutes after they dropped their last bombs.

“I have respect and gratitude for those on the ground because they really went through it,” Games said.

Games saw red tracer bullets streak past his plane that day for the first time.

“It was spooky,” he said. “It was a miracle all 36 aircraft in our mission landed safely at home.”

Many crews didn’t. One B-24 took a direct hit not far from Games.

"It just blew to smithereens," he said. “I saw the nose wheel come down through our formation."

His B-26 returned to base with only few bullet holes. That was nothing compared to an earlier mission over Paris when his aircraft was riddled with 75 bullet holes. Games said his plane held the record for some time.

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MIlitary decorations earned by Howard Games, a World War II pilot who served in the 387th Bombardment Group, 558th Bombardment Squadron.(Photo: CAPI LYNN / Statesman Journal)

The medals he earned during the war, including a Distinguished Flying Cross, are displayed in a frame behind glass. He still has his leather flight jacket. It no longer fits, but the custom painting on the back looks as new as it did the day he got it more than seven decades ago in Glasgow, Scotland.

The 62 miniature bombs in a row across the bottom represent each of his combat missions. The red one is for D-Day. The row of ducks above represents eight “decoy” flights to help divert enemy fighters from the main bombing formation.

Games finished the war stateside, flying a tow target for fighter pilots in training. He wound up stationed in Spokane, Washington, where he met his wife, Ivy.

The first thing he did when he arrived on base was ask about a good Baptist church. He arrived the next Sunday just in time for a Sunday school class for young adults, and there was but one empty chair in the room. It was next to a young woman named Ivy.

“We really never parted from then on,” he said. They were married a short time later.

After the war, he attended Gonzaga University and went into civil engineering. He worked in construction management for the federal government, including projects on many colleges and universities in the Northwest.

Games remained in the Air Force Reserves until the mid-1980s, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

“Forward This” highlights the people, places, and organizations of the Mid-Willamette Valley. Contact Capi Lynn at clynn@StatesmanJournal.com or 503-399-6710, or follow her the rest of the week on Twitter @CapiLynn and Facebook @CapiLynnSJ.

Howard Games donated this framed copy of the June 7, 1944 edition of "The Star And Stripes," which he bought for a penny at his U.S. Army Air Corps base in England the day after D-Day, to Corban University. CAPI LYNN / Statesman Journal